The expansion of wireless broadband access network deployments is resulting in increased scarcity of available radio spectrum. It is very likely that in the near future, cellular technologies and wireless local area networks will need to coexist in the same unlicensed bands. However, the two most prominent technologies, LTE and Wi-Fi, were designed to work in different bands and not to coexist in a shared band. In this article, we discuss the issues that arise from the concurrent operation of LTE and Wi-Fi in the same unlicensed bands from the point of view of radio resource management. We show that Wi-Fi is severely impacted by LTE transmissions; hence, the coexistence of LTE and Wi-Fi needs to be carefully investigated. We discuss some possible coexistence mechanisms and future research directions that may lead to successful joint deployment of LTE and Wi-Fi in the same unlicensed band.

LoRaWAN has become popular as an IoT enabler. The low cost, ease of installation and the capacity of fine-tuning the parameters make this network a suitable candidate for the deployment of smart cities. In northern Sweden, in the smart region of Skellefteå, we have deployed a LoRaWAN to enable IoT applications to assist the lives of citizens. As Skellefteå has a subarctic climate, we investigate how the extreme changes in the weather happening during a year affect a real LoRaWAN deployment in terms of SNR, RSSI and the use of SF when ADR is enabled. Additionally, we evaluate two propagation models (Okumura-Hata and ITM) and verify if any of those models fit the measurements obtained from our real-life network. Our results regarding the weather impact show that cold weather improves the SNR while warm weather makes the sensors select lower SFs, to minimize the time-on-air. Regarding the tested propagation models, Okumura-Hata has the best fit to our data, while ITM tends to overestimate the RSSI values.

The Internet of Things (IoT) paradigm gains more importance each day, as the number and variety of connected devices grows. To answer the specific needs of IoT, many wireless network standards have been developed. An example is the LoRaWide Area Network (LoRaWAN), which has gained popularity thanks to the affordable costs of its devices and gateways, as well as wide range, low energy consumption and flexibility. Considering the challenges that exist with testing and researching on real LoRaWAN systems, the development of accurate network simulators is invaluable. Therefore, this work presents a survey of the available tools for simulating LoRa networks in ns-3 network simulator. We present how those simulators were implemented and their main features and limitations. We also showcase how those simulators are being used in the literature to evaluate the performance of LoRA networks. Finally, we compare the module so highlight what scenarios each of them is more suited for.

Vehicular acoustic noise evaluations are a concern of researchers due to health and comfort effects on humans and are fundamental for anyone interested in mitigating audio noise. This paper focuses on the evaluation of the noise level inside a vehicle by using statistical tools. First, an experimental setup was developed with microphones and a microcomputer located strategically on the car’s panel, and measurements were carried out with different conditions such as car window position, rain, traffic, and car speed. Regression analysis was performed to evaluate the similarity of the noise level from those conditions. Thus, we were able to discuss the relevance of the variables that contribute to the noise level inside a car. Finally, our results revealed that the car speed is strongly correlated to interior noise levels, suggesting the most relevant noise sources are in the vehicle itself.

LoRa has emerged as a prominent technology for the Internet of Things (IoT), with LoRa Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) emerging as a suitable connection solution for smart things. The choice of the best location for the installation of gateways, as well as a robust network server configuration, are key to the deployment of a LoRaWAN. In this paper, we present an evaluation of Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) values collected from the real-life LoRaWAN deployed in Skellefteå, Sweden, when compared with the values calculated by a Radio Frequency (RF) planning tool for the Irregular Terrain Model (ITM), Irregular Terrain with Obstructions Model (ITWOM) and Okumura-Hata propagation models. Five sensors are configured and deployed along a wooden bridge, with different Spreading Factors (SFs), such as SF 7, 10 and 12. Our results show that the RSSI values calculated using the RF planning tool for ITWOM are closest to the values obtained from the real-life LoRaWAN. Moreover, we also show evidence that the choice of a propagation model in an RF planning tool has to be made with care, mainly due to the terrain conditions of the area where the network and the sensors are deployed.